Author's note: Hey, guys! Guess what! I'm not dead :) I am very much alive and kicking, and also updating this fanfic for once! I think I finally got my inspiration back. Hopefully. So expect more updates sometime... soon. Yeah. Sorry for the short chapter. Enjoy!

The planet looked yellowish-green from a distance. The ship shook like crazy as we entered the atmosphere, and then that's all I knew because like hell I was going to open my eyes. But in my panic, I managed to convince myself that I might really be dead and Heaven was having an earthquake, so I opened one eye just a crack. The clouds were pale yellow, and the sea was lime-soda-green, and GIR was unhelpfully jumping on top of me as I tried to stop hyperventilating.

Not like Zim cared. He was just doing his crazy pilot thing, dodging through traffic as we descended towards the city. The ship shuddered to a stop by what looked vaguely like a giant overgrown futuristic 7-11.

"Follow me, and don't say a word."

The hatch slid open. GIR squealed and scrambled over me, giving me one last kick in the stomach as he jumped out. I grit my teeth, my eyes burning.

"I'm staying here." Because Can I stay here? implied I actually cared what he says, implied he could actually order me around.

"I had no idea you wanted to be captured and enslaved so badly, human." He gave me this look, contempt layered over worry. It absolutely couldn't be worry, of course.

"Well if you're so worried why don't you leave your stupid robot here to guard me?"

"GIR?" He let out a short laugh. "Not likely. You're coming with me." He held out a hand. I didn't grab it. He just shrugged and turned away. "Follow close by. If anyone looks suspicious, tell me."

It was only a short walk from the parking lot (teetering on the edge of a cliff, practically, a cliff of buildings, of crumbling brick and stucco and spindly metal, rising from the yellowy fog below) to the store. The door opened with a cheery ding. Inside, it smelled like sticky sweetness and fried food. I stayed back a bit, letting my eyes wander over the different colored multi-language snack and drink and candy bar labels. Zim chatted a little in another language with the cashier—a big, bulky green guy, wearing an apron that looks ten sizes too small—and they both laughed, the stranger's low and growly, Zim's high and sharp and proud. He looked back to find me, and his smile was replaced by seriousness.

"We're refueling, and we're staying to buy food. Walk around, but don't leave the store. And don't let GIR touch anything. You hear that, GIR?"

The robot's eyes flashed red, and he saluted. "Yes, Maste- ooh, lookit that!" Zim winced and moved to stop him, but relaxed and rolled his eyes when he saw that GIR was only looking at some weird commercial on the small TV behind the counter. Then the cheesy jingle ended, and a fuchsia-skinned alien appeared onscreen. The image switched to some sort of really shaky video. A pink light flashed between black clouds, streaking down… an explosion… Cut to more raw footage: smoke billowing out of a building. Red claw-tipped cables shot out, dragging something forward out of the rubble. It was a familiar ship, round and red-violet. The video was replayed a few times as a reporter spoke.

"Gaz-human. Get over here. Now." Zim didn't even look away from the screen, or notice GIR climbing on top of his head. "That. That is an Irken ship, but not one that has been around for years! It's Tak's ship! Tak's ship! We've found that big-headed—" He switched over to another language, and I wasn't sure if he was cussing Dib out or just translating for the guy behind the counter. Not that I cared.

There. It was over so quickly. Zim would find my brother, do whatever it was he wanted to do—like I cared, like it mattered—and then I could go home.

Yeah. Sure. If only I knew.